Land Journal

Land Journal: June–July 2017

Bitcoin has been in the news as the currency of choice for hackers whose ransomware has infiltrated computer systems around the world.

But in this Land Journal we look at how financial technology "fintech" and cadastres that can use digital currencies have positive applications in land and real-estate transactions. Manohar Velpuri details the different stages of development of fintech and cadastres, and their impact on countries around the world.

Advances in technology are also helping the National Trust collect and validate data on its vast estate to speed up applications for Rural Payments Agency grants. The trust owns 250,000ha of land and 1,250km of coastline and is eligible for agricultural grants worth £10 million a year. In England alone, it has 9,000 separate land parcels, in turn subdivided into 15,000 land-use areas.

By joining forces with geospatial management specialists 1Spatial, the trust has managed to reduce six weeks’ work compiling and validating data to just seven days. Next year it expects the work to be done in even less time.

In other articles, Chelsea Bradbury explains how the Crown Estate has collected and shared data on the seabed to encourage investment in offshore renewables, while Tony Mulhall and Fiona Mannix, both Associate Directors of the RICS Land Group, outline 20 mandatory behaviours expected of surveyors advising on compulsory purchase powers in the light of new guidance.